Free Things To Do - Birmingham ArtsFest - The UK's Biggest Free Arts Festival

By Ferne Arfin, About.com Guide

• What: A huge celebration of all the arts - music, dance, theatre, visual arts, performance art and more, the biggest free arts festival in the UK
• When: Second weekend in September
• Where: Centenery Square in Birmingham city center as well as all the city's key cultural areas.
• Admission: Completely free
• Website

Almost all of Birmingham's arts organizations - theatres, dance companies, cinemas, museums, galleries, community arts groups - participate in a giant weekend celebration. There's usually something mega going at the stage in Centenery Square, a chance to hear free concerts ranging from symphony orchestras to Motown bands, and a host of quirky "happenings". Organized by the Birmingham City Council and its sponsors and partners, the festival attracted a quarter of a million visitors to the Midlands city in 2008.

The easiest way to get a taste of what to expect and what's been going on in Birmingham, every September for more than ten years, is to check out some highlights of the 2009 festival:

• Classical Fantasia Concert in Centenery Square - The Birmingham Royal Ballet, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Birmingham Opera Company all share the stage, the performance leading to a choreographed fireworks display.
• KerrangFest - A 10-hour rock and pop festival on Sunday featuring the best of Birmingham's local bands
• Ethic music and dancing - Irish musical instrument workshops, Chinese Falun Gong, Bollywood dancing and traditional Polish music are just some of the offerings
• The BBC Bang Goes the Theory Roadshow Science as fun, live from Victoria Square
• A Celebration of 50 years of Motown At The Yardbird, The Town Hall and other venues all over the city
• 50th anniversary of the Mini - a film about this iconic car, designed and built in Longbridge